SPARCS

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  • ESO/M. Kornmesser

    Mini-Hubble will scan dim stars to see if they can support life

    by 
    Steve Dent
    Steve Dent
    01.11.2018

    It doesn't take hugely expensive space telescopes like the Hubble and future James Webb Space Telescope to hunt for habitable exoplanets. NASA and the University of Arizona will launch a small telescope the size of a cereal box called the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS, in 2021. The aim is to find so-called M Dwarfs, stars 20 times dimmer than our sun, and see if they emit too much radiation to support life on other worlds.